Help Father Frost! The Christmas Stocking Project 2020

Stocking are made very early as due to transporting them over to Belarus goes, they leave when the summer visitors go back and go into safe storage! They will be given to the children around the time of the orthodox Christmas early January 2021.

Please read carefully as things are different.

• We have been given a list of children, names and ages as at the time they will receive their stocking. Initially we have 31.
• If you would like to take part, message or email us and we will allocate a child to you. How lovely is this??!! You then make a stocking just for them!
• Let’s say no more than 2 children per person, but if you are prepared to make for more, let us know and we can always come back to you. No extras needed this year, just personalised stockings for these children. If we have more donors than children we will take your names in case we get more.

So last posting is Friday 23rd May 2020.

Elizabeth Parker (Mid Suffolk Chernobyl Children’s Life line link)and her team personally take filled stockings to Belarus, to the homes/schools of very disadvantaged children. Their aim is to give the children a real Christmas present and those they give to have most likely never received a Christmas present before.  It is very important to note this is absolutely not one of those shoe box appeals, so these stockings do not include functional toothpaste/brush type items, and there are no strings attached. It is just a wonderful thing to be able to do for some of the most disavanted and sick children.

So message/email for a child’s details, then once you have these please read on! Should anything change and you can’t make the stocking PLEASE PLEASE let us know so that we can sort things out. This is so important, we don’t want any child to be left out.

Even if you took part last year, please do read the instructions, they are absolutely vital to making this work. We are grateful to you, this is a wonderful project. Thank you.

We are looking for home made fabric only please stockings, OR shop bought stockings, we found some  on Ebay and Amazon but PLEASE as close to the size below as possible.  Then fit it with age appropriate treasure and get it as close to the weight as possible!

Here’s how to help…

1. Whether it is home made or shop bought, stockings need to be as close to 18cm by 40cm  (approx 7” x 16) which seems to be average standard size of shop bought ones.
2. The stockings can contain anything that would be considered a Christmas present but for this project, no utility items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste
3. A list of suggested items is below but these are by no means the only items to be included, feel free to add anything you want!
4. The gifts inside the stockings must not be wrapped in Christmas paper as this makes it easier if they are stopped at customs.
5. VERY IMPORTANT – Completed stockings must weigh no more than 650 grams please and need to be able to lie as flat as possible for travelling purposes.
6. Reiterating the 650g weight limit!
7. Please send any filled stockings to us wrapped in a carrier bag with a list of the contents jotted down on a bit of paper and the weight in grammes, PLUS THE CHILD”S NAME AND NUMBER

What to put in to a stocking…The items listed are only some suggestions, please feel free to add your own items

1. Liquids may not be sent neither should toy guns, sharps, knives or other weapons etc be sent as some parents might object to these.
2. No sweets (as the stockings will be in storage in Minsk for a good while, they go over in June, and they can’t guarantee they mightn’t get hot)
3. A small soft toy
4. Small ornaments (all children love dogs and cats)
5. A “Barbie” or Action Man type Doll
6. temporary tattoos
7. lip balm
8. flavoured chapsticks
9. Magic Gloves
10. Hair slides, bobble, elastics etc for girls, colourful, sparkly items are really liked.
11. Girls love all things pink and “blingy” !
12. Wrist bands for boys
13. Fridge Magnets are a big favourite
14. Small logic puzzles, i.e. the ones we use to get where you had to roll a few small balls around and get
    them in the right place.
15. Spinner toys
16. Bracelets and necklaces for girls
17. Balsa wood models
18. Polystyrene plane kits
19. Small cars or other models
20. Small windup toys
21. Marbles – quite heavy but a few would be ok and the children really love them
22. Stickers – all the children seem to collect these
23. Yo yo
24. Harmonica
25. Funny socks and slipper socks are liked very much, particularly if they are “Character “ones.
26. Warm tights for girls – they like bright colors
27. Small notebook – pretty ones for girls
28. Pens, pencils – biros should be blue not black please, this is for school use, highlighters
29. colouring pencils
30. Small coin purses
31. Pretty notebooks
32. Pencil case
33. Any toys with LED lights – particularly the stretchy/squishy ones
34. Folding shopping bags (older girls)
35. Keyrings
36. Slipper socks

We will have quite a bit of admin this end, so please send any filled stockings to us wrapped in a carrier bag with a list of the contents jotted down on a bit of paper and the weight in grammes. Do make sure you include your child’s name and number which will all help make sure the right stocking goes to the right child! All hail the folk who get these out in Belarus! 

 Very much an ongoing project. Check the updated sizing. Please post when you are ready, to Teddington.Thank you x

Our Angel Hug project began back in 2012 with a request to make blankets for newborn or very young babies who devastatingly have not survived. At an intensely bleak and dark time there is still something very positive that we can do for the baby and their family. Our blankets are always handmade with love and compassion and so are perfect. We can help care for the whole family at this time by making the baby comfortable and snuggled up whilst sending love and a hug to the parents and wider family. We have been supporting Glasgow Maternity wards, Haven House Hospice in London and are able to support individual families as needed.

Angel Hugs is as always an ongoing project. Traditionally we send plain white Angel Hugs to Glasgow and will continue with this.  Haven House Hospice would like us to use the palette. below.

If making an Angel Hug for Haven House Hospice

• Single colours only please, using Stylecraft Special DK in these colours only…Duck egg, grape, sage, pale rose, cloud blue
• Minimum size : 32 inches square. Not much bigger please, and no smaller. See Size Up September on the changes. Thank you 

 

If making an Angel Hug for Glasgow Maternity

• Angel Hugs are to be all white and can be knitted or crocheted in any wool suitable for a baby blanket, so 4ply, DK, just as long as it feels soft and cosy. The design is up to you, but it should be kept simple. Angel Hugs can also be sewn using pure cotton and good quality fleece, again white please and in a simple design.
• Minimum size : 32 inches square. Not much bigger please. See Size Up September on the changes. The only exception to this is for those using the Sands pattern, this will continue to be acceptable.Pattern is below. Thank you 
• Please make sure when you post that you label your blanket as an Angel Hug, we don’t want to get them muddled with Little Hugs.

We know that we have many crafters and donors who have first hand experience of such devastating loss. We understand that this is a very difficult request, but if you can join with us, and are able to help, then we would love to have you on board. From speaking to some of you, we know how incredibly important blankets like these are to those who receive them.

Hearty Hearts, THIS IS AN ONGOING PROJECT, PLEASE POST AS AND WHEN!

‘A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees’
Amelia Earhart

Our Hearty Heart project has been going for years now. It’s absolutely lovely and a perfect small travelling project. Our hearts go to individuals who may need a little boost, but also on a much larger scale to hospitals like to the Hampshire transplant team, where one heart goes to the donor family and one to the recipient family. Most recently to Leeds oncology provision. Read Lucy’s message below..

“I am a nurse working on an acute assessment ward for cancer patients at St James Hospital. I recently have introduced something we call care hearts to the ward which are little crochet hearts I have made that we give to our end of life patients. The idea is that the patient can hold the heart close and then it can be returned to their family when that sad time comes so they have something to hold in memory of their loved one. We have had amazing feedback from our patient’s relatives on our ward and I am now hoping to expand this concept to the rest of the Oncology and Haematology Wards in Leeds (there are 6 wards in total) so that more cancer patients and their families can have the best experience of end of life care that we can provide. However, I appreciate that this expansion will be difficult to do on my own which is why I am reaching out to you. I wondered if anyone in your group would be interested in helping me make some hearts to assist in the expansion of this. Thank you”

How…

We would like to collect crochet, knitted or stitched 3D hearts (so not single sided) these to be no bigger than 20cm MAX and to have a hanging loop. They can be padded or just double sided. Other than this the style is very much up to you.

Have put some links below, you may well have your own ideas!

 

Crafting suggestions

Crochet Heart Applique Pattern

Bella Coco YouTube crochet heart tutorial, bear with the ads

Bella Coco Heart crochet pops – just leave out the stick and add a loop!

Cute Knitted heart design on Ravelry

 

The most enormous thanks!